


absolutely infatuated

by WatchforWitches



Series: TRC Hogwarts AU [1]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Amortentia, Canon-Typical Violence, Feelings Realization, Gen, Gryffindor Ronan Lynch, I blame tiktok for this entirely, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Ronan Lynch Has Feelings, Slytherin Adam Parrish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26491165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WatchforWitches/pseuds/WatchforWitches
Summary: They are making amortentia in potions class, the smell of which is whatever attracts you the most.Ronan and Adam share potions class, and some awkward glances.
Relationships: Richard Gansey III/Blue Sargent, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Series: TRC Hogwarts AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925959
Comments: 44
Kudos: 227





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, if anyone told me I'd be writing a Pynch Hogwarts AU I probably wouldn't believe you, mostly because I am nonbinary and hate JK Rowling for being a massive transphobe and like generally not cool person. But TikTok has dragged me back kicking and screaming into the world of Harry Potter, and the feelings storm of amontentia potions. I haven't read or watched HP in a hot minute, so this may not all be accurate, but I needed to write this lmao
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Ronan Lynch hated a lot of things about school, he always had. He found himself daydreaming about going to the forbidden forest or running off the grounds of Hogwarts to stir up trouble more than he ever paid attention in any class. It didn’t help that all his friends were in different houses and that Gansey absolutely never broke any rules to hang out at night. Ronan was more intrigued in breaking rules than following him, but oftentimes that left him with either Noah- the Hufflepuff’s ghost- or occasionally Adam to hang out with. Adam only ever hung out with Ronan when they didn’t have homework, which was essentially never so he was always either in the library or away in the Slytherin common rooms Ronan wasn’t allowed into. Blue was in Gryffindor with Ronan, but they obviously didn’t share a dorm room so he was left with a bunch of idiots at night. Currently, Ronan was standing around outside the Slytherin rooms, waiting on Adam to emerge, having convinced him to study with him after dinner. 

Ronan was definitely not still harbouring the crush he’s had on Adam since first year, definitely not. 

Adam does eventually appear, still in full uniform- even his robes draped across his chest- and Ronan takes a breath at the sight of him. He hadn’t seen him since potions class, and he still looked the same he always had, but Ronan thought he was breathtaking all the same. 

“Hey,” Adam spoke first, heaving his messenger bag up to his shoulder. 

“Hey,” Ronan replied, falling into step next to Adam on the way to the library. “How was dinner? Anyone try and poison your food?” 

Adam rolled his eyes, “You’re an idiot Ronan. The dinner was fine. Nobody in Slytherin is evil you jackass.” 

“Tom Riddle was Slytherin,” Ronan pointed out cheekily. 

“Yeah like over 70 years ago,” Adam sighed, “Idiot.” 

Ronan just laughed and kept walking, keeping it to himself that his dad was a Slytherin when he went to Hogwarts, that Ronan beat himself up when he was sorted into Gryffindor because he wasn’t connected to Niall in that one small way. “Also,” Adam spoke up, “Declan is in Slytherin too, so.” 

“Yeah man,” Ronan said in an exasperated voice, “Evil.” 

Adam laughed and rolled his eyes again, the two finally having reached the library. “Are you actually going to study, or not?” 

Ronan shrugged and sat at the table across from Adam. He should study, he thought, but he had done very little study thus far and made it to sixth year, so really he didn’t see the point. Not the way Adam did anyways, Adam studied as if his very life depended on it. Which, Ronan thought, perhaps it did. Adam had been raised by muggles, and that was all anyone knew of his story outside of Hogwarts and the little they all pieced together along the way. 

“Are you ready for potions class tomorrow?” Adam asked, smoothing out his scroll of parchment and getting his quill out of his bag. 

“I’m never ready for potions. It’s only fun when we get to blow stuff up, or when someone accidentally blows stuff up.”

Adam laughed at that, “Yeah like you “accidentally” blowing up that everlasting elixir last year?” 

“Exactly,” Ronan smirked, pretending to read the textbook in front of him. 

“No tomorrow we’re making amortentia potions,” Adam said, scribbling some notes down from the textbook. “Which you would know if you read the textbook or did the homework.” 

Ronan put his own textbook down on the table and gestured at its presence as if to prove Adam wrong. “Getting a bunch of horny teenagers to make the most powerful love potion known to man is an excellent idea,” Ronan remarked, “They really have learned nothing about safety at this school huh?” 

Adam chuckled at this and shook his head, “It’s not like we get to keep it, and we make like 4 of them in smaller groups, so it’s really not that dangerous.” 

“Anything to get Gansey a chance at Blue falling in love with him is dangerous in my eyes,” Ronan shook his head, thinking about Ganseys not so secret crush on Blue. 

He watched Adam smirk at the joke, wanted to ask about his feelings for Blue. The two dated in what Ronan thought were the worst 2 months of his life during fourth year. They broke up after realizing they are better as friends, but Ronan catches Adam looking at Blue still sometimes and wonders if his feelings for her are completely platonic. 

“Please,” Adam rolled his eyes, “Gansey is so old school, and Blue would kick his ass back to the Hufflepuff common room if he ever tried anything like that. Those two need to just stop fucking around already and makeout, the tension is driving  _ me  _ insane.” 

Ronan figured after statements like this that Adam was in fact over Blue, but he didn’t like to be too optimistic about that whole situation. If watching Adam study over the top of his own textbook for the rest of the night was all that Ronan got, then he would sleep with the image of a concentrated Adam fresh in his head. 

-

Ronan decided he definitely hated potions class the most. 

Granted it was a class he shared with Adam, it was also a class he  _ shared with Adam. _ Which on any normal given day was a breath of fresh fucking air in the drab schedule of classes, but on today might as well have been torture. 

The whole lesson their professor droned on about love and love potions, and why you should never use them, and how they work and what harm they could cause. Listening to her talk about love while being sat so close to Adam was awful. 

Especially when it came to group work. Luckily enough she sorted them by house today as it was a smaller class size, so sitting with his idiot Gryffindor mates was better than next to Adam. The groups were individually lead, so his team of three consisted of himself, Arthur from his Quidditch team, and some girl named Stella he’d barely spoken 3 words to before. It was still awkward as hell assembling a love potion with them, but at least it wasn’t awkward in the sense that he already did love one of them. It was a difficult potion to craft, and this being one area Ronan naturally excelled at, their professor watched his team closely as Ronan did most of the heavy lifting as far as the work went. Stella recorded everything Ronan did, but he didn’t know if that was for all their benefit, or she just didn’t do last night’s homework assignment. 

The class came near an end slowly, dragging on each second until everyone’s potions were assembled. “Excellent class, you’ve all managed to make a vial of amortentia. You should be proud, this is a difficult one, even for some of the best.” Ronan noticed the way her eyes travelled to Adam as she said that, and a burst of undue pride swelled in Ronan for his friend. “We all know that the properties of amortentia do when ingested, but can anyone tell me what happens when it is inhaled?” 

Adam’s hand shot up dutifully, and he was called on as fast. “Mr. Parrish?” 

“The smell is different to each person that smells it. You smell whatever attracts you.” 

“Correct,” their professor nodded with a smile, “Excellent work as always Mr.Parrish, 10 points to Slytherin. I’ll make it 50 if your group made your potion correctly, and you are able to tell us what it smells like to you.” 

Ronan thought that was an awfully personal request, but he also knew Adam loved being a good team player, so he watched Adam pick up the bottle and bring it close to his nose. “It smells like,” he paused for a moment, inhaling deeper, “Rain. And like when they cut the grass on the Quidditch fields.” Ronan thought immediately of Blue- who was the seeker on the Gryffindor team- and his stomach sank a little. “Also,” Adam continued, “Expensive cologne?” 

That made Ronan’s eyes snap up towards Adam, who had a screwed up look of confusion on his face as if he too hadn’t been expecting the last bit. “Excellent work, you’ve made yourself a successful amortentia Mr. Parrish, 50 points to Slytherin. Anyone else wants to test their group’s potion?” When nobody volunteered, the professor started to scan the classroom, and her eyes fell on Ronan’s. “Mr.Lynch? Could you test your groups potion for us please.” 

Ronan grabbed the bottle before he could think of a reason to not, and held it up under his nose. He inhaled and knew 2 things immediately. 1, this potion smelled just like Adam, and 2, he was screwed. “Uh,” he stammered out, “It smells like books and parchment,” he smelled it again and closed his eyes, “And coffee.” 

“Good work Mr.Lynch. A bookworm the type of a Gryffindor, common occurrence if you’d believe, and proves you’ve made a successful potion. 10 points to Gryffindor!”

Ronan could  _ feel _ Adam’s eyes on him, and he schooled his face to not blush as he was called out in front of the class, ignoring the giggles the comment received, and the look he got from one of the girls in the Ravenclaw group. When Ronan hazarded a glance up, Adam was still looking at him from across the room, his face a light pink colour and his fellow Slytherin chuckling at Ronan’s expense. 

He absolutely hated potions class.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam is coming to realize he's not as smart as he thinks he is where Ronan Lynch is involved. Blue's there to help him come to these conclusions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah okay, thank you for all the feedback on this fic! It was very random and self-indulgent but I'm glad some people also enjoyed it! Here's chapter 2, this one from Adam's pov, and also not the last chapter (I'm sorry!) I have the last chapter planned out and it will be posted soon! Thank you for reading!!

Adam Parrish would say that he learned a lot in the years that he had been at Hogwarts so far. In the six years he’s spent in the walls of the grand castle, he prided himself on coming into his own, and learning to harness and control his magic, and realize that he did deserve the opportunity he was given in coming here. He had good grades and good friends, and he genuinely loved his classes and loved learning. 

He had been learning a lot more about himself recently, especially if the last potions class was anything to go by. He didn’t know anyone that played quidditch and smelled like an expensive cologne that was female, and he certainly didn’t know anyone who smelled like all three things he described except for Ronan Lynch. 

Which was, well, a problem? Adam didn’t really know if he was being completely honest with himself. He knew Ronan wouldn’t meet his eye after he had droned out his own list of scents, he knew that the smells Ronan described could have been Adam. But he also knew they could be literally anyone, really, Ronan listed pretty generic smells. It’s what the interior of the library smelled like, and Ronan was definitely not attracted to that.

He’d also darted out of class before Adam could even begin to think of what to say to him, and seeing as it was their last class of the day together, he wouldn’t be seeing Ronan for a few hours at least. 

He did, however, have a charms class with Blue. The seating was essentially up to the students which meant people picked their spots on day one and stayed there. Adam hadn't sat next to Blue on that first day but he sat next to her now, ignoring the scowl from one of her Gryffindor housemates. 

“Adam,” she greeted him in a voice both pleasant and confused, “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Adam lied, taking out his materials for class to start. 

“Oh really?” Blue asked, raising an eyebrow in his direction, “Because you have never sat with me in Charms class. Oh and I also have a friend from quidditch whose in your potions class and she told me it was quite the afternoon and wondered if I wear expensive cologne, for some reason. She said, and I quote 'Your ex-boyfriend smelled the amortentia in potions today, he said he smelled expensive cologne, isn't that odd?'” 

Adam groaned, and buried his face into his book bag on the desk, and groaned some more. Blue chuckled at his despair and gently patted him on the back. “So, how long have you had a crush on Ronan?” Blue asks quietly, as their lesson begins. 

“I didn’t even know I had a crush on him until today,” Adam whispers back, voice desperate and a tad too loud.

“Mr. Parrish,” their charms professor interrupts, “Was there something you’d like to safe with the class?” 

Adam goes quiet and blushes with embarrassment, “No sir. Sorry, sir.” 

“I think you’ve shared plenty with your class already,” Blue teases him after the professor turns away again. He shoves her arm and gives her a withering look. 

He tries to pay attention to their lesson, but it’s increasingly difficult because he keeps hearing Ronan’s voice over and over in his head. 

_ It smells like books and parchment. And coffee. _

He must truly be spacing out because he doesn’t notice for almost a whole minute that Blue placed a note over his opened- and ignored- textbook. 

_ Were you serious before? You didn’t know? _

Adam scribbles a note back and hands her the paper, confused and trying to recall any feelings he’s ever had towards Ronan. The only one coming up is  annoyed  if he’s being honest. 

_ Yes. Why, did  _ you _ know??  _

Blue offered him a small smile and passed the note back with just one word scribbled down. 

_ Kinda.  _

And that doesn’t make any sense at all. How could Blue have known he maybe sort of has a crush on one of his best friends? Does everyone know? Is Adam the last to know and magic had to literally spell it out for him? It just didn’t make any sense to him. Before he could spiral much more, the class is dismissed and Blue is dragging him by the arm down a secluded area of the halls. He wonders what changed, the idea of Blue dragging him to a quiet spot in the castle to be alone used to be all he could dream of, and now that it was happening- albeit not the way it had in his dreams- he felt nothing but confusion. When Blue finally stopped walking and turned to look at him, she just matched his confusion. “Adam relax,” she chided, “It’s not that big a deal. Ronan’s liked you since second year.”

“He’s what?!” Adam yelled, shock washing over him like a tidal wave. 

Blue frowned at him, “You didn’t know he likes you? All this time? Aren’t you like the top of our year?” 

Adam just spins in a circle, brushes his hair back with his hand, and heaves a deep sigh. “How could he have liked me for four years? How did I not notice? How did  _ you _ notice?”

Blue just laughed, “Ronan literally hated me the entire time we dated like for no reason. I’d suspected before that, but that solidified it for me.” 

Adam had remembered Ronan’s shift in attitude during his relationship with Blue. How he wouldn’t hang out with the whole group as much, how he made stupider comments than usual. Adam had foolishly thought it was school stress, that Declan was breathing down his neck about grades again. Then he remembers the gazes he’d catch out of the corner of his eye. How Ronan had snuck into the Slytherin dorms when Adam was out sick to bring him notes that he missed with warm soup. How Ronan offered for Adam to come to his house over Christmas every year without fail. 

“He just,” Adam rations, “He’s-” Adam lets the idea sink in. Ronan Lynch likes him. Has for years. “Wow, I’m so stupid.” 

“Hey you said it,” Blue laughed, then stopped, “Seriously Adam, it’s fine. You just know now, that’s all. Honestly, that class probably did you both a favour, we didn’t think either of you would ever say anything to each other.” 

Adam wants to mention that the ‘we’ she is referring to is her and Gansey and that those two are basically professionals at dancing around their feelings, but he’s still processing all his emotions, he just doesn’t have the space for theirs as well. “Ronan practically ran out of the class,” Adam groaned, “He wouldn’t even look at me!” 

“Well,” Blue shrugged, “Just force him to look at you then. Seriously, figure out what you want, and go get him. I’ve got to get to Defence Against the Dark Arts, we’ll talk later okay? 

“Yeah,” Adam agrees, “Okay.” 

And just like that, he’s standing alone in the hall, failing against the wall and sliding down to the floor. How is he going to get Ronan’s attention?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, sorry for the cliffhanger, all aboard the feels train for the last chapter though I promise! 
> 
> Also if you want any other trc-verse hp fics let me know! I was thinking of doing one where Adam and Gangsey go to a quidditch match Ronan and Blue play in? Let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up for some canon typical mentions of past child abuse in this chapter, if that is not your thing, please beware and stay safe!

Ronan was officially screwed. The biggest secret he's ever had is essentially exposed. Adam would have to be an idiot not to connect the dots after the disaster of potions class, and Adam was the smartest person Ronan knew. The question was what was Ronan going to do about it? He kind of figured that he couldn't avoid Adam for 2 days, let alone 2 years. He could just play it off, but he wasn't a liar and that felt too close to a lie. 

What he actually did was skip the remaining classes he had and went walking around the grounds, careful not to get caught by any teachers lingering around themselves. When walking got too tiring he found himself slouching under a large overgrown willow tree, laying back against the thick trunk. He closed his eyes against the sun and played back the memories of class, still fresh in his mind. 

Adam had said cologne. Blue didn't wear cologne. Neither did any girl he knew here, so what did that tell him? Just because Adam maybe isn't straight doesn't mean he was talking about Ronan, it doesn't make his dream any closer to a reality than it was this morning. 

Except Ronan was busted. He didn't have that many friends really, and Adam was the only one that drank coffee on the regular. There was no concealing the enormity of his feelings now. He'd always known school would be his downfall.

He doesn't realize how long he's been sitting with his eyes closed until he feels a tapping against his boot. Grimacing against the bright sky, he looks up and sees Gansey hovering above him. "Hey," he says in a voice that is a dead giveaway to what kind of conversation this is about to be. Namely one Ronan wants no part in. 

"Hey," he grunts out simply, watching Gansey as he takes a seat next to Ronan on the ground. "Why aren't you in class?" 

"I'm technically in Herbology, I asked to go to the toilets and saw you moping," Gansey flashes his hall pass as proof. 

"I'm not moping," Ronan says mopily. 

"Blue told me about your potions class," Gansey states simply, "She heard from one of her mates." 

Ronan groaned, "Christ, what next are they gonna write about it in the papers? 'Hogwarts students made potions' isn't exactly an intriguing story." 

Gansey lets a moment of silence pass between them, letting Ronan take a breath before glancing over towards him. “Ronan.” It’s all he says, but it’s all he needs to. 

“I don’t know what I’m going to do man,” Ronan says, exhaling loudly.

“Just talk to him,” Gansey says calmly, “From what Blue told me it sounds like you two are in the same boat.” 

Ronan scrubs a hand over his face and looks at Gansey. He had always admired Gansey for many reasons, his loyalty, his good heart, and his care for his friends. But more than anything Gansey had a way of making things that felt out of control feel controllable; like if Gansey told you something was a certain way, it just was. It settled the thing that had been jittering around Ronan’s chest since potions. “I doubt it.” 

“You’ll never know until you talk to him Ronan, seriously.” 

Ronan snorted, “You mean like how you talk to Blue about your feelings?” 

Gansey quickly got up from his spot, “Sorry man I’ve got to get back to class!” 

Ronan laughed at this, watching a blushing Gansey back away quickly. “Hypocrite!” 

Gansey gave him the finger and kept walking, and Ronan just laughed. The annoying thing about Gansey was that he was rarely ever wrong. Ronan knew he needed to talk to Adam, he just didn’t want to, if he was being honest. He’d gotten so used to this just being his thing, the secret he kept from everyone, and he wasn’t sure if he knew how to put any of it into words well enough for Adam to understand. 

He supposed he owed it to Adam- and to himself- to at least try. 

\--

He resolved that the day for trying was not this day, and went back to his dorm to probably lay face first in his bed for a couple of hours and figured out how to phrase his feelings better than ‘ _ Hey Adam, I’ve basically been in love with you since we were 12. It would be pretty cool if you felt even remotely the same way about me. _ ’ 

Turns out, he didn’t really need to. A few hours had gone past, some of his housemates entered and exited, but by the time dinner rolled around the whole dormitory was empty. He was still busy feeling sorry for himself when his door started to open. Glancing up, expecting to see his roommate or someone else forgetting some book, he actually saw nobody as he watched his door being pushed open and then pushed closed. There was a glimmer of the light, and Adam emerged from under a thick and heavy cloak. 

“Jesus shit Parrish you scared the fuck out of me,” Ronan exclaimed, jumping up from his bed. “Where the fuck did you get an invisibility cloak?” 

Adam stuffed the cloak under one of his arms and looked slightly guilty at Ronan’s expression, “Sorry, I didn’t want to get caught. And I may have borrowed it from one of my housemates.” 

“Christ,” Ronan breaths, “You’ve had access to steal that thing this whole time and didn’t? Do you know how much shit we could have pulled? We could have scared Gansey so bad he’d be as pale as Noah.” 

Adam laughed at the mental image of a terrified Gansey, “That was our first instinct, and yet Slytherins are the ‘evil and corrupt ones’. That sounds pretty evil to me.” 

“Or just really brave,” Ronan countered, “Depending on which angle you look at it.” 

Adam just shook his head at this, smiling despite himself, “You’re ridiculous.” 

A moment of silence settles between them. What was once a pleasant and easy thing is now loaded and awkward. Ronan wishes he had a time turner and could go back and fuck up that stupid potion if it got Adam to stop watching him like he was a time bomb. “Why aren’t you at dinner?” Ronan asked then if just to provide noise to the thick air around them. 

“I could ask you that same question,” Adam countered, “But I think that we both know the answers to those questions.” 

“Adam, I-” 

“You know how I was found and brought to Hogwarts when I was 11? That my parents weren’t magic?” Adam interrupts Ronan before he can start to say anything. 

“That’s pretty much all I know, yeah,” Ronan answers. 

Adam sighs, looks at his feet, and then back to Ronan, “That’s not the whole story. I lived with my parents until I was about 8, I think it was. I didn’t grow up in the foster system, I wasn’t in it that long. My dad, he uh,” Adam swallowed thickly, “He used to beat me when I was a kid. He abused me. One day was worse, and I um, well he pushed me down the steps and I hit my head on the fall down. My mum took me to the hospital because I needed stitches, and they told my mom the hearing in my ear might never come back. I had to,” Adam took a shaky breath, “I had to tell them my dad did it to me. They had made my mom leave the room and asked what had really happened, I think they saw the bruise on my cheek that was fading. He was arrested, and I was put into foster care. I lashed out a lot as a kid, did some things I hate myself for doing. The anger is what made my magic first manifest, and I almost really hurt someone in the care home I lived in. That’s how they found me and took me in here. It’s the real reason I wear a hearing aid in my right ear.” 

By the time Adam stops for long enough to take more than just a shaky breath, Ronan feels a stray tear fall down his cheek. It’s too much to process, he can’t imagine anyone treating Adam like that, he can’t imagine how Adam felt not talking about it all this time. Everything he’s ever said to Adam, all the stupid jokes about his parents being muggles, he wants to take it all back. 

There is so much history Ronan wishes he could rewrite. 

“Adam,” he exhales his name like he’s never said it, never  _ really  _ said it out loud before. 

Adam meets his eye and is taken aback by Ronan’s tears, his pain, his guilt. “Ronan why are you-”

“Is he in jail?” Ronan asks, the only thing playing over and over in his head.

“He was,” Adam responded, “He got 5 years.”

“Adam,” Ronan said again, pain in his voice, “That’s  _ nothing _ , he should be in jail forever, he should be in Azkaban, he should be dead!” 

“Ronan,” Adam says this in a calm controlled manner. “It’s fine.” 

“It’s not fine!” Ronan yelled back, “Adam it's not fine! I just- I don’t- I can’t.” Ronan feels himself sit heavily on his bed, head in his hands. 

“Ronan,” Adam says, “It’s my shit. I just wanted you to know the real story. You didn’t know the things I did, the things I can’t change. You’re the first person outside the headmaster that knows the whole truth. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I’m sorry you didn’t know the real me.” 

At this Ronan looks up at Adam, “What? What the shit do you mean Parrish? I know you. I know you’re the smartest student at this whole school. I know you are loyal, and kind, and creative and brave and all the stupid house bullshit they push on us. I know you are the most loving person I’ve ever known. And now I know you literally lived through hell and are still easily the nicest person I know.” 

“Ronan,” Adam sounded like the pained on now, “You don’t-” 

“And I know you drink way too much coffee for any one person. And that your parchment is always neat. And that you always carry books with you wherever you go.” The last parts are said to be quieter, more deliberate than any of what he said before. “Adam I  _ know _ you. You’ve got to know that. You’re not that stupid.” 

Adam doesn’t say anything at that, just watches Ronan’s glassy eyes and worries at his lip. “Ronan-”

“You don’t have to say shit, Parrish.” Ronan interrupts yet again, “I just wanted you to know. It doesn’t need to be a big thing.” 

“I’ve done some bad things, Ronan,” Adam says sadly. 

“You’re a Slytherin,” Ronan says, trying to lift the mood, “Of course.” 

Adam’s laugh is watery, and he’s moving to hug Ronan before Ronan can process what’s happening. “Ronan,” Adam says into his shoulder, “I really like the smell of your cologne.” 

Then they are pulling away, and Ronan can feel the heat in his cheeks when looking into Adam’s eyes. Adam’s eyes dart to Ronan’s mouth, and then he is moving forward that little bit, and they are kissing. It starts soft, just an innocent pressing together of lips-  _ My first kiss,  _ Ronan thinks- and it grows into something from there. Ronan’s hands wind up in Adam’s hair, and Adam is gripping the sides of Ronan’s robe, and he moves to sit on Ronan’s lap where he sits at the edge of his bed. When they reluctantly pull away, they are both panting heavily and Ronan has to blink to ensure he hadn’t just dreamed that kiss. 

“Have you really liked me since second year?” Adam whispered in the space between them.

“I’m going to kill Sargent,” Ronan groaned, “Yes.” 

Adam smiled and pressed a kiss to Ronan’s cheek. “Sorry it took me so long to catch up.” 

Ronan laughed at this. “Pretty sure you just made every single one of my dreams come true Adam. Seriously.”

“Well, I’m still sorry I didn’t notice my blinding crush on you,” Adam continues, “We could have been doing that a lot longer.” 

Ronan’s hand is still brushing through Adam’s hair when his knuckles bump Adam’s hearing aid at the cartilage of his ear. Ronan maneuvers Adam’s head to kiss his jaw just below it. “I’m sorry you’ve lived with this by yourself so long. I’m sorry you suffered in silence with it. I’m sorry about all the dumb jokes I’ve made about your parents. You deserve to be loved, Adam. I _love_ you. I’ve loved you for so long.” 

Adam breaths through a gasping breath and he’s crying now. Letting someone see the truth behind his life, hearing someone acknowledge that what he went through was wrong. Hearing that  _ Ronan _ of all people  _ loved  _ him. It was too much. “Ronan,” Adam sobbed softly, “Thank you. I don’t know what I would be without you.” 

It’s the closest to love Ronan knows Adam trusts himself to go right now, and it’s miles and miles more than enough for him. This boy crying in his lap, the boy he’s loved since he met him in the grand Hogwarts hall, this boy he cannot believe is real most days and that he’s friends with Ronan. It’s too much, and Ronan clutches onto him for dear life, pulling him into his chest. Hoping that if he holds Adam tight enough, for long enough, all the hurt can go away. 

Of course, he knows it will take more than this. Still. 

“Do I really smell like grass?” Ronan whispers, long after Adam has cried himself out onto Ronan’s shoulder. 

Adam laughs loudly at this unexpected question, furious joy burning through him hot and fast. “Only after quidditch practice,” he tells him, “But yes.” 

“Rain?” Ronan asks, kissing Adam softly, just because he can. 

“Remember when we went to Hogsmeade that weekend with everyone? Gansey and Blue waited inside for the storm to pass over. You dragged me out to the street and we got soaked in seconds. You told me to spin around in the rain, and you laughed when I did? That’s why I smelled rain. It’s my happiest memory.” 

Ronan almost starts crying himself at this. He thought he was being an asshole that day, dragging Adam into the harsh cold rain. The streets were empty and he watched Adam unguarded, for one of the first times ever. It sent warmth through him now, thinking about it. “Oh,” he said lamely, voice thick, “Okay. That’s acceptable.” 

“Do I really smell like books?” Adam chuckled at his question.

“Yes,” Ronan replied, “You nerd. Absolutely.” 

Adam kissed Ronan again, smiling all the while, “You love it.” 

Ronan smiled back. “Yeah, I do.” 

They both completely missed the dinner that night.

Ronan absolutely loved potions class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this story! My first multi chapter fic and total self indulgent labour of love. I will absolutely be writing more in this universe, it's so fun. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I liked writing it!

**Author's Note:**

> NGL I almost put Gansey in Ravenclaw, but being one myself I think his personality and his loyalty to his friends are especially Hufflepuff Blue is a Gryffindor as well because of chose she is. If you disagree with any sorting let me know why you think so! I'd love to get more perspectives and opinions about it!
> 
> This might just be chapter one to a story honestly I want to keep writing in this universe, if you'd like to read more, please do let me know in the comments!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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